Slayers WILL
by Tsuki Aquarius Hanju
Summary: Slayers set to the plot of Jim Henson's Labyrinth: On their way to find legendary ruins, Zelgadis finds himself as the only one to see the truth behind the wishes he and his friends made, and doesn't have much time to get the others to realize it. A&Z.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, Good Day, and Konichiwa (or Ohoyo, or Gobungwa, depending on what time of day it is in your area)! It's summer, which means Tsuki-Chan has returned to writing!

And while I do intend to continue working on my SM/HP projects, I managed to find inspiration in a few other areas, firstly starting with my fiancé. Yes! I'm engaged!

And whats more, it was my fiancé (I can't stop saying it!) who introduced me to this lovely new wonderful series that many of you have probably read and/or seen, _The Slayers_! And I've got to say, it is AMAZING! So between classes, getting a new job, and the pleasures of moving in with my beloved D-Kun, we managed to watch all of the anime series, including the movies and OVAs, up to _Slayers Revolution_, which we are currently working on.

**Sailor Aquarius:** So, with all that time spent with this new series, you could have spent it working on _Moonlight and Starlight_, couldn't you? Especially since you now work at a freakin' call center, can't you?

**Tsuki-Chan:** Can't you give me a break? For one, even though all I do is send out tow trucks, I don't exactly have access to any form of Word program, and I can't exactly bring any electronics to my work area either! Secondly, while I AM (and I really mean this) going to eventually continue _Moonlight and Starlight _from where I left off, I got inspiration from this guy quite recently, so as long as its in my head, I can't even think about Sailor Moon or Harry Potter until I let it out! You're my muse, for God's sake! YOU are as much to blame for this as I am!

**Sailor Aquarius:** -_-'" Alright, alright, I get your point... Damnit, I hate it when your right.

**Tsuki-Chan:** Is it really that painful to say it?

**Sailor Aquarius:** ...Yes... **:twiddles fingers together:** So you are going to finish the other fic, right?

**Tsuki-Chan:** Yes, I promise.

**Sailor Aquarius: **I'll be holding you to it, then!

And so, without further ado, I now present our latest creation, _Slayers WILL_! Buy the way, I do not own the rights to _The Slayers_, as the entire franchise belongs to Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, Funamation Entertainment, and all those guys who actually own it under proper copyright laws, so, again, don't try suing me for this! I'm just borrowing it out of my fan-ness, and don't intend to make any money off of it, okay? I also don't own the rights to the film, _Labyrinth_, as that is the property of Jim Henson Studios. Again, please don't try to take me to court about this, you won't get any money because it doesn't exist. I also don't own any songs that are used in this fic, as most of them will probably belong to David Bowie, and he's too hot for me to want to fight him over copyright laws.

Also, I would like to dedicate this fanfiction to D-Kun, who helped inspire this, and who has stuck with me for the craziest bits of my life. I LOVE YOU, D-KUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!

* * *

><p><em>"Through dangers untold, and hardships unknown, I've fought my way through your dominion beyond your cursed city, to take back my comrades and the freedom you stole from them! I can assure you that my will is as strong as yours, and that my powers are just as great!"<em>

_"Oh really?" said the black-robed figure, its aura emanating around the surrounding void like a colossal phantom as it stroked a second, more familiar shape that was sitting next to it. "And what makes you say that? When here, I can control everything, from your so-called friends, to your very appearance - if you were to allow me to finish what we started; So why won't you let me?"_

_"Simple,-" he said, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword, preparing it to draw, but as he tried to finish his statement, his voice fell silent, and his mind scrambled to figure out the words that his mouth was trying to utter as the stranger's hand stretched out, and what little ground that he was standing on collapsed away into nothingness._

That was when Zelgadis Greywords snapped his eyes open with a jolt. He sat upright, breathing heavily, but as he took in the surrounding scene, he felt himself calming down. He was still in the middle of a snow-covered wood, and the three lumps that were lying close by - otherwise known as Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, and Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun - were still in their respective places around the now dead embers that used to be their camp fire. Looking at Amelia, who was the closest to him in proximity, Zelgadis could tell that she was not at all bothered by any nightmares involving strangers in robes or falling into oblivions. If anything, she was muttering something along the lines of, "In the name of Justice..." before rolling over onto her back, smiling slightly as she continued to dream on.

The chimera let out a sigh as he calmed down. 'Only a dream,' he thought as he turned his head toward the heavens to assess what time it was.

The moon had set a while back, but since it wasn't full yet, it was still somewhat dark and dotted with stars. However, the horizon was lighter then it was when he went to sleep last night, and there was a pale, gold-grey tinge to said light, indicating that dawn was about an hour or two away. Damning his subconscious for keeping him from getting proper rest, Zelgadis rolled back over and tried to get what little rest he could obtain in the short time it would be between now and breakfast.

* * *

><p>Chapter 1: An Abomination? A Legend and The Power of Wishes!<p>

* * *

><p>"Are you okey, Zel? You're not looking too good."<p>

"Lina's right, you do seem less like yourself then normal."

"Have you been sleeping well, Mr. Zelgadis?"

"For the last time," said a very cranky Zelgadis through gritted teeth, "I'm FINE!"

"Alright, we get it! You don't need to bite our heads off, you know," said Lina crossly.

For the entire trek since they last left Sayruun, Zelgadis had been having the same nightmare night after night- each time waking up after only a couple hours of sleep, and finally returning to sleep right as everyone else was waking up. These new dreams were almost as terrible and constant as his old ones of Rezo turning him into a chimera. He hadn't told anybody about these dreams, given that he found them ridiculous and hated talking to people about his personal problems. However, they had been walking for a few weeks now, and the sleep depravity was beginning to show, despite the fact that Zelgadis's skin was practically made of rock. The whites of his eyes were beginning to turn pinkish-red, and he was beginning to develop bags under his lower eyelid (which manifested as darkened, "swollen" pebbles directly under his eyes, and slightly sunken-in regions between where his nose and those pebbles met). He was also becoming more agitated due to lack of proper sleep, which made him snappier then normal. Still, he was contemplating on investing in proper sleeping pills.

Besides, if he didn't change his attitude soon, then he would either A: end up pissing off Lina and get a Dragon Slave to the face, or B: receive a Pacifist Crush from Amelia's father, Prince Phil, for making his little girl worry (something he couldn't not notice about her). Neither option seemed like a good one.

"Sorry guys," he finally said gruffly, pulling his hood over his head. "I've just been impatient, that's all."

At least he wasn't being completely untruthful. The reason why they were heading in this particular direction was because of a rumor they heard of involving an ancient ruin and a supposed source of great magical knowledge. Of course, Lina was in it for the possibility of learning more spells and the likeliness of treasure, while Gourry went along because of Lina. Amelia, on the other hand, was tagging along because the same legend involved something akin to human sacrifices on a regular basis, whereas Zelgadis, who had been conveniently charged with the task of being Amelia's personal body guard by Phil, helped convince her to come along since the possibility of magical knowledge could involve a cure to his chimera-ness. All-in-all, it seemed like win-win reasoning to fallow Lina on yet another one of her escapades.

"Well, here it is, guys!" announced Lina as she stopped in front of a cliff overlooking a large city, "Welcome to the city of Belleros!"

There really wasn't anything remarkable about the city, save for the large marble statue of a winged horse with a man on it sitting right in the town-square, and upon seeing it, Zel let out a low growl as he pulled his hood even more over his face.

"Oh great, as if this could get any better," Zelgadis said with a slightly sarcastic tone as he brought his mask over the lower half of his face.

"What are you talking about, Mr. Zelgadis?" asked Amelia, paying more attention to him then to Lina's and Gourry's proclamation of hot food and equally hot baths.

"You'll see soon enough," murmured Zelgadis as he tried to cover up even more of himself, "Hopefully, there won't be anything worth seeing."

By the time the group finally made it to the town, it was already dusk, and, (much to Zelgadis's chagrin) almost all the shops were closed or in the process of closing at this point. While Lina, Gourry, and Amelia started parading, singing, and puffing about how awesome it would be to have a hot meal that didn't involve them hunting or burning anything, Zelgadis stayed behind them by a couple of feet, keeping as much of himself concealed by his clothing as was possible. The streets were still somewhat busy, mostly with people on their way home, but many of them were staring at them while children pointed. Zel prayed that it was the crazy parade in front of him that they were pointing at, and not him.

"Ooh! Mr. Zelgadis, Miss Lina, Mr. Gourry!" squealed Amelia, stopping in front of a shop window where there was a fantastic doll display, "Come look at this!"

Lina and Gourry eagerly came to see the display, while Zelgadis reluctantly fallowed. In the display was a giant magnificent doll-castle (to call it a doll house would have been an insult, especially since it was shaped like a fairy-tale castle) which was opened to reveal several stuffed dolls mixed with porcelain ones, all positioned in such a way that they looked like they were dancing at a toys' masquerade ball. Standing prominently in the center of the promenade of plush and porcelain were two dolls which were obviously a princess and a prince; the princess was wearing a white taffeta dress and a genuine crystal tiara, while the prince's blue silk tunic and red velvet cape seemed to be embroidered with genuine gold thread.

"Isn't it pretty?" asked Amelia, ogling at the dolls.

"Those porcelain ones almost real, don't they?" asked Gourry

"Pretty neat craftsmanship, isn't it?" said Lina with approval. "If anything else, Belleros is infamous for their toy-making, particularly their handmade dolls. You probably grew up with at least one Bellerian doll, didn't you, Amelia?"

"Well..." Amelia said in a mousey voice, twiddling her fingers together, "I do still have a few..."

"A... few...?" asked Lina, looking from the display back to Amelia. "Um, these dolls don't come cheap. Exactly how many of these do you have back at Seyruun?"

"Erm... I'd say about..." she pondered for a moment as she mentally counted the number of dolls in her collection. "About one hundred and fourty six custom-made dolls."

"A HUNDRED AND FORTY SIX? _CUSTOM MADE?_" gasped Lina, her jaw dropping.

"I even have that same castle back in my room," Amelia added meekly.

"These dolls are ridiculously expensive!" exasperated Lina, "How could you get so many custom made Bellerian dolls?"

Zel and Gourry both glanced at the dolls. The chimera had to agree that they were made with superb skill, but when he saw the price tag that was on the princess doll, both his and the swordsman's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. Lina wasn't kidding when she said that they were expensive, so for Amelia to have so many dolls only indicated the immense wealth that the Seyruun royal family had.

"I never actually bought any dolls myself!," said Amelia sheepishly, "I always got a couple of dolls every year on my birthday. It became sort of a hobby for me to collect them after a while, plus they really are very cute!"

Zel, Lina, and Gourry all gave Amelia weary glances, but Zelgadis just stared back at the prince and princess dolls and shook his head.

"How about we stop worrying about Amelia's doll collection and focus on finding a place to eat?" Zel sugested, trying to get his mind off of the expensive dolls.

"You're right Zel," said Lina, dragging their real-life princess away from the display to continue their search for food.

"Hey! Why don't we stop by here for dinner?" asked Gourry, pointing to a loud and quite open tavern.

"Sounds perfect!" Lina agreed as they went inside.

The tavern was bustling with people, mostly drunks and other snow-blown travelers, but they managed to find two tables relatively close to each other, with Lina and Gourry taking one while Amelia and Zelgadis took the other. Service came rather swiftly, but it didn't take long for the blue-haired waitress to regret coming in to work that day.

"I'll have triple helpings of everything on the menu with extra portions!" Lina said cheerfully when she came to take their order.

"T-t-triple?" the girl asked in dreaded disbelief, her eyes widening as she assessed the size of her customer. "With extra portions?"

"For each of us!" Lina declared as she pointed towards herself and Gourry. "And that includes desserts, too!"

"S-s-sure thing," replied the now teary-eyed waitress as she jotted the humongous order down and went off into the kitchen. When she came back out and presented Lina and Gourry with the first wave of their orders, she turned towards Zel and Amelia, who hadn't been served yet.

"And what will you two be having?"

"I'll just have the special," said a slightly embarrassed and sweat-dropping Amelia.

"Same here," murmured Zelgadis, turning away from the waitress.

"Umm..." said the waitress apprehensively, "I really do apologize, but we can't really serve anyone without seeing their face."

"Why's that?" asked Zel sharply, "What if I just don't want my face to be seen?"

"I'm really extremely sorry for the inconvenience," cried the waitress as she bowed over and over again, "It's just our policy! I really didn't mean anything personal, or insulting!"

"Just your policy, huh?" Zel returned with a slight growl to his voice. "And if it turns out I'm hideous?"

"I promise you that we don't judge based on looks," pledged the girl, still tearing from the stress of the situation. "Its only a precaution against trouble-makers and suspicious people."

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad just to let her see for a bit?" Amelia asked timidly as Zel tried to get up.

"Amelia," he tried to explain, "I really don't think-"

"But I know that your not a suspicious person, and she did promise not to judge you."

'and a lot of good that promise will do,' thought Zelgadis, the image of the flying-horse statue flashing in his mind. However, Amelia was now giving him the look. Yes, it was that sad, puppy-look that she would give anyone when she was asking something of them. Not in a greedy way like Lina, but more of a "please take a change of heart" sort of way; the look she used whenever she saw a friend committing an act of what she considered to be evil, or (as in this case) if she was really tired, hungry, and wanting of a real bed and bath. And Zel had been traveling with her for too long to be immune to it anymore.

"Fine," the chimera huffed as he lowered his hood, "but don't say I didn't warn you."

As he removed his hood and the lower part of his disguise, the light of the hearth and nearby candles glimmered off of his steely hair and diamond-hard skin. The moment his mask was down, the entire inn fell silent, save for the waitress's shrieks.

"What is it, Tsuki?" yelled the innkeeper, rushing out to see what was causing the commotion, only to stop dead in his tracks when he caught sight of Zelgadis.

"IT'S AN ABOMINATION!" the girl screamed, pointing at Zelgadis as she sank to the floor in terror, pointing at him the entire time. The other guests and customers immediately ran to her side and pulled whatever weaponry they had on their persons. Lina and Gourry just stared at the masses that were surrounding them, while Amelia's eyes widened in shock at the reaction of the tavern-goers. Sure, Zel's face was... more then unusual, but it wasn't bad looking ('at all,' Amelia's subconscious added), and it surely didn't warrant this kind of reaction.

"Look," said a very put-off Zelgadis as he stood up, "I tried to warn you, and I really didn't want to cause any trouble,-"

"Well, tha's jus' too bad, you Abomination!" shouted one of the men, pulling out an axe he had equipped to his belt.

"You caused trouble the moment you came to Belleros!" yelled another, pulling out his own weapon.

"Look, if you just let me leave, then-"

"We'll see your guts spill before we let you go!" roared a bear-like man with a longsword who, in his zeal to kill the chimera, attempted to slice his head off.

"DON'T!" came Amelia, trying to place herself between the blade and Zelgadis. Luckily for her, she didn't make it in time, and luckily for Zelgadis, the part of him that was rock-golem not only kept his head in place, but prevented the sword from even scratching him. Unfortunately for the overly-zealous swordsman, the attempt to kill Zel ended up breaking his beloved blade in two.

"W-what kind of Abomination are you?" the large man stammered, eyes bulbous and tearing as he stared in disbelief at his now-useless sword.

"The leaving kind," said Zel nonchalantly, replacing his hood as he got up to leave.

"Don't let these villains push you around, Mr. Zelgadis!" exclaimed Amelia. Zel turned around slowly, sweat-dropping in dread as he sensed an Amelia-Justice speech about to occur.

"Where do you get the nerve to call us villeins when your the one with the Abomination?" sobbed the large swordsman, trying to gather as many pieces of his busted sword as he could.

"Mr. Zelgadis is NOT an Abomination!" Amelia declared, jumping onto the table as a make-shift platform. "As I learned during my travels throughout the world, judging people solely on their looks is a villainous trait that prevents Justice and World Peace from becoming a reality!"

('you're one to talk,' thought Zel, remembering again how he and Amelia first met)

"Any true patron of Justice would be able to see past his literal and figurative stony exterior and see that he is a decent human being just like any one of us!" the princess continued, her love of justice radiating out of her every fiber, "It is true that he can be grumpy at times, and generally prefers working alone then with others. And it is true that he can be cold and quite cruel at times, and will do almost anything he can to get his way, including destruction of property, nature and threatening in order to find his cure."

(Zel had a couple of mini-anime-falls with each discription)

"But deep down, he's a sweet, lovable, and honorable warrior who was lead astray from the true path of love and justice by his misfortune, and is slowly finding his way back to the road of righteousness!"

(a final anime-fall that resulted in Zel face-planting into the floor)

"Really, Amelia? You had to go there?" Zelgadis muttered under his breath while he got back up, his blue face turning reddish-purple while an even larger sweat-drop manifested on his person.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, miss," came one of the armed townspeople as the mass of them began to close around Zel and Amelia, "But and Abomination is an Abomination, and unless you want it ripping off your head, then you'd best get out of our way and let us deal with it."

"I won't let you do any such thing!" the girl cried, placing herself between Zelgadis and the angry mob. "Mr. Zelgadis is one of my closest friends and Ally of Justice, as well as my personal bodyguard appointed by my daddy, Prince Philionel El Di Seyruun!"

"Wait a sec," said one of the older patrons of the inn as the mob halted, "Your saying that your a princess of Seyruun, but your father appointed an Abomination as your protector?"

"He is NOT AN ABOMINATION!" shouted Amelia hotly. "So if you wish to kick out Mr. Zelgadis because of his looks, then not only will you be losing a valuable customer, but you would also be greatly insulting the Royal Family of Seyruun!"

"I's always wondered wa' kind o' place Seyruun was," said the axe-wielder, "But if its th' kind that lets Abominations mix wit the likes of humans, we ain' got no more business wit the likes o' you!"

"So unless you know about our Missing Ones, you need to either get out of here or go to hell!"

Both Lina's and Zel's eyes narrowed at this statement, and both took a glance at each other as Zel replaced his hood and mask and allowed himself to be roughly escorted out of the tavern. Amelia was a bit more objective to her being kicked out, given the violation of Justice and all, and thus landed face-first in the snow when she was shoved out of the building.

"Hey," said the waitress, her attention shifting to Lina and Gourry as Zel and Amelia were forced out. "Didn't you come in with those two?"

"Wha-? Us?" asked Lina, trying to act surprised by the accusation, "W-we just happened to be wandering into town at the same time they did! Yeah! We don't even know their names!"

"But Lina, we do know-" started Gourry, but Lina managed to silence him by shoving a biscuit in his mouth.

"Shut up, jellyfish-brain, unless you want us kicked out of here too!" Lina hissed in his ear before turning to the fellow diners. "Please excuse my friend here, the cold must have given him brain-freeze after our journey."

The other customers gave them skeptical looks, but they decided to believe Lina's claims and went back to eating, drinking, and talking.

As Zelgadis helped Amelia up, the two noticed that neither Lina nor Gourry were being kicked out like they were, and that only made Amelia more upset.

"You're a terrible friend, Miss Lina!" Amelia cried, tears welling up with hurt mixed with hunger and discomfort. "How can you and Mr. Gourry stuff your faces while your loyal friends get shoved out into the cold? And I really didn't want to sleep in snow again!"

"Let it go, Amelia," muttered Zelgadis, holding out his hand to help her up.

"But I don't understand, Mr. Zelgadis!" Amelia protested as she accepted it and started walking with him out of town. "Why would they kick you out just because of your appearance?"

"Didn't you see that statue of the flying horse with the hero on it?" asked Zel, peering down at her through his hair. "That statue references a story about a man who would save towns from various monsters, demons, and other threats to humans. Chimeras in particular are on that list of threats to humanity." At the last word, he turned his face back to the direction they were heading.

"But there's nothing wrong with chimeras, so long as they're not evil!" Amelia argued

Zel was thankful that his mask was in place as he felt his face burn with blushing.

"Regardless of the intentions of the chimera," Zelgadis answered, trying to shake off the blush, "it was still a chimera that the hero first killed in order to save a town, and that was what made him famous. Basically, any town that has that statue in it claims to have been protected by that hero, also known as being Marked by the Great Hero, so to speak. It also warns any non-humans that try to enter that they will be met with hostility. It isn't uncommon for businesses in those towns to have a no-face-hiding policy, either. The term 'abomination' is just an all-encompassing word for a non-human."

"So why didn't Miss Lina or Mr. Gourry try to stand up for us?"

Zel knew Amelia was hoping that Lina wasn't letting her stomach get the best of her, but decided to tell her the secondary reason.

"Did you notice their mentioning of 'missing ones' when they threw us out?"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back at the tavern...<p>

"My sincerest apologies for my waitress," said the old Innkeeper as he and the sobbing girl presented the next course of their meal. "We should have known better then to believe that you would associate yourself with an Abomination."

"So I take it that Belleros is one of those Marked by the Great Hero?" asked Lina between mouthfuls.

"What do you mean by Marked by the Great Hero?" asked Gourry as he munched on a leg of lamb.

Lina sighed as she helped herself to more food. "I'll explain it to you later." She then turned back to the innkeeper. "So, I heard you mention something about Missing Ones when you kicked out those two. Care to fill us in on what's going on?"

At this, the old man's smile faltered a bit. "I really do apologize, but we like to keep our towns private matters to ourselves."

"I can understand if your not willing get a pair of outsiders mixed up in your troubles," Lina shrugged before giving the innkeeper a wily look, "But my friend here and I do just happen to be professional monster-killers, and if there's a threat to your home, then if you want-"

"I really am sorry," the Innkeeper cut in, more firmly this time, "But it really is our own private matter, and Belleros isn't interested in hiring mercenaries. Now if you don't mind, I must go back to our kitchens to see the progress of your desserts."

And with that, the Innkeeper left Lina and Gourry to their meal.

"Well, that's not going to get us anywhere," thought Lina aloud as she took a sip from her drink.

"Indeed, these people seem reluctant to accept help from strangers," said a quiet voice that was all-too familiar to Lina.

"Xellos?" Lina gasped in mild surprise as she turned toward the speaker; and indeed, sitting quietly in the corner by himself, was the infamous trickster-priest Xellos.

"Well, well, isn't this a pleasant surprise, Miss Lina," grinned the humanoid, his eyes merely slits hidden underneath the curtain of purple hair.

"Pleasant surprise my ass," murmured Lina.

"Hey!" interjected Gourry when he saw who Lina was talking to "What's up, Xellos? Haven't seen you in a while."

"Oh, I've just been here and there," Xellos answered, waving his hand mildly.

"So what exactly is a _Monster_ like you doing here?" asked Lina slyly, giving him a look that she normally reserved for when she was blackmailing. "Belleros isn't exactly friendly towards non-humans, as you probably saw with Zel and Amelia."

"Can we please not talk about that?" said Xellos with a slight quiver in his voice as he began sweat-dropping and fidgeting like mad. "I really do have important business here that requires my attention."

"Maybe I'll keep my mouth shut, _if_ you take care of the tab," Lina grinned mischievously, her slight cackle adding to the effect. "And that would include our rooms for the night, by the way."

"And you call me a monster," sighed Xellos.

After finishing off what was before them and receiving the load of desserts, Lina decided to continue her interrogation of the Monster.

"So tell us, Xellos, what's the nature of you're 'business' here?" Lina pushed as she polished off another glass of her drink.

"I only came here to investigate a rumor," Xellos grinned, and then he opened one of his narrow, purple eyes, "You may have heard of a Granter of Wishes that is supposed to be residing in a ruin close to this town?"

"Funny you should mention that," Lina responded, helping herself to a slice of cake. "I'm not sure about a Granter of Wishes, but we did hear something about a great source of Magical Knowledge. This wouldn't have anything to do with a Clair Bible Manuscript, would it?"

"Strangely enough, it doesn't," said Xellos. "I guess the best way to explain it is to start from the beginning."

At this point, Lina, Gourry, and Xellos were the only people left, besides the barkeeper, innkeeper, and one or two drunken stragglers. No one payed any attention to the trio as Xellos launched into his explanation.

"Once upon a time," the Monster began ('Oh, brother' thought Lina, 'do you really have to start it like that?'), "Before Seyruun was even built, there was a great and capital of this land that, despite being built by great warriors and designed to ward off invaders, was no match for a mysterious creature that wiped out almost the entire civilization, and buried most of the city underground. That creature was dealt with and sealed away by a great hero on top of a flying horse, and the survivors of the ancient city founded a large village not too far from it, banning their children from going back to the ruins out of respect for the dead."

"But what the people either forgot about, or just didn't know," Xellos continued, "was that something still lived within the ruins of their city, and that this something could give anybody anything they asked of it, no matter how impossible the request was.

"So one night, many years after the villagers forgot about their origins, a group of young people went into the city in a fit of exploration and mischief during a meteor shower. They managed to get inside the walls of the ruined city, and met with the strange Granter of Wishes.

"'Say the Right Words,' the Granter of Wishes said, 'and I'll take away all your problems and give you anything you desire, and you will be free of the trials and tribulations of ordinary Men.' But the youths were unaware that whatever they wished for came with a price, and that as long as they had their wish, the Granter of Wishes would keep what was forfeited for ever and ever. The Granter of Wishes could even turn them into a goblin, or some form of lesser demon, if the wish was grand enough.

"In spite of this, the youngsters- who were somewhat foolish and high on testosterone- didn't bother themselves with possible consequences, and only pondered for a minute before making their wishes, which seemed only too good to be true. One of the boys in the group, who was smarter and more cowardly then his fellows, said, 'We mustn't do this, we don't know if what this being says is true or not!'"

At this point, both Lina and Gourry were giving Xellos their full attention, waiting to hear what happened to the young people.

Xellos was well aware of his audience, and after a pause, resumed his tale, "But the lad's friends ignored him, and after thinking about all the problems in their lives, the group said the magic words:"(Lina an Gourry both held their breaths) "'Granter of Wishes, hear our plea! Give us our desires with the powers of thee!'"

At this, Lina had an anime-fall of her own while Gourry gave his usual look of confusion.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Lina projected as she got back up. "None of that mumbo-jumbo even starts with 'I wish'! If this thing could really give anyone anything they wanted, they just need to tell it what they want!"

"Your saying that those youngsters didn't need to say anything that complicated?" asked Gourry dumbly.

"Let me explain it this way," Lina said, "if I were to wish for, lets say, a mountain of treasure, I'd just say 'I wish for a mountain of treasure,' in order to get it! That's basic Magic 101 when dealing with entities that have that power! There's no way that this Granter of Wishes or whatever gave them what they wanted with that kind of gibberish!"

"So if I were to say, 'I wish for an endless supply of awesome food,' then I would get it?"

"Yes, Gourry, That would be all you would have to do to get it," moaned Lina, still unable to believe how stupid the swordsman was. "But that's only when working with goblins, elves, or genies; Things like that."

"So what happened to those kids, since they didn't get their wishes?" Gourry asked Xellos.

Once again, Xellos opened one eye fully. "That's where things get interesting. Nobody knows what happened to them. They just disappeared. The only one who came back was the cleaver boy, who himself went missing months later. Ever since then, there's been a string of disappearances in Belleros. The age of the missing persons ranges from children to elderly, and it always happens shortly after a meteor shower, or when someone dares to go in the direction of the ruins. At least, that's what the legend says," Xellos finished, resuming his goofy, cat-like grin.

"Interesting story, Xellos," mused Lina, leaning back into her seat, "That would account for those 'Missing Ones' that old Innkeeper was going on about, but why would you be so interested in a legend that involves human disappearances?"

Xellos gave Lina his tale-tale wink and waved his finger, indicating what Lina thought he would say. "Now that is a secret."

"Figured as much," sighed Lina as she polished off the chocolate cake she was working on.

* * *

><p>Outside the tavern, and Belleros for that matter, Zelgadis and Amelia had managed to find a decent campsite and were polishing off what was left of their rations for their supper.<p>

"Oh, so Lina was just trying to find out what the innkeeper was saying about Missing Ones?" asked Amelia.

"Pretty much," answered Zel, finishing off his cold bread and cheese sandwich.

"So it is true, what was said about a creature oppressing the townspeople!" the princess exclaimed, her burning desire for justice reigniting. "If that's the case, then I, Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, will defeat that evil with the Swift Hammer of Justice!"

Zelgadis let out another sigh as he decided to let Amelia's passion for justice take its natural course. With nothing else to do, he decided to lie back and prepare himself for another attempt of unaided sleep. Amelia noticed this, and decided it was time for bed as well.

However, just as she was getting comfortable, she saw something that made her forget about sleep.

"Look, Mr. Zelgadis! Shooting stars!"

Zel got up and glanced at Amelia first, then when it clicked what she was referring to, he looked up at the sky. Sure enough, there were a series of lights flashing through the starry sky, four of them being particularly bright, with a greenish tinge to the light they emitted.

"Why don't we make a wish?"

Zel shook his head again. Did she really still believe in wishing upon stars?

"They're not really stars, you know." He said. "They're meteors. Just pieces of metallic rock that fall from the sky at times, and then burn up before they even touch the ground. Its pointless to try to make wishes on meteor showers."

"Its not pointless!" huffed Amelia, annoyed in how Zel was trying to ruin her fun with logic. "I know what meteors are, but its still fun to make wishes on them. Come on, Mr. Zelgadis, its not like it would hurt or anything."

When she saw that Zelgadis didn't even budge, she decided that maybe a demonstration was in order.

"I wish that I could be a champion of Justice, who could defeat any adversity with the power of Love and Justice!" she exclaimed, letting her voice carry onto the frigid wind as the words puffed forth from her mouth.

"Isn't that something you always try to do, though?" Zel asked, starring at her crossly. That's when he noticed a strange spark in her eyes, one that he had seen a couple of times before, but had rarely given any notice to.

"There's nothing wrong with wishing for something you have, or what you strive to do, Mr. Zelgadis," the girl proclaimed, eyes dancing in the fire and starlight. "Besides, its a basic rule of magic that saying something as simple as 'I wish' can have great power if applied in the proper medium."

Zel couldn't believe that Amelia was lecturing to him about the fundamentals of magic.

"Alright, why don't we test it then?" challenged the chimera, "I wish to become fully human again."

Silence quickly descended upon the two of them, the only sound being the sounds of a nearby screech owl and the crackling of the fire. Amelia just stared at the blue-skinned man, a mixed expression of hurt and surprise replacing her cheerful and determined demeanor.

"See? Nothing happened," said Zelgadis before resuming his prone position. "As I said, its pointless to make wishes, unless you want disappointment."

And with that, he rolled back over to his side and tried again to get some sleep. "Good night, Amelia," he finished finally, making sure that she wouldn't try to carry on the conversation.

Amelia just continued to stare at him, even long after he finally fell asleep.

"Good night, Mr. Zelgadis," she whispered as she laid back and saw another green-tinted streak in the sky. "I wish that your wishes will come true."

* * *

><p><em>"I can control everything, from your so-called friends, to your very appearance - if you were to allow me to finish what we started; So why won't you let me?"<em>

_"Simple,-" said Zelgadis, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword, preparing it to draw. Yet again, as he tried to finish his statement, his voice went mute, and struggled to find out what he was trying to say as the mysterious stranger's hand stretched out. Once again, the ground benieth his feet gave away into the void, and the chimera found himself falling._

Again, Zelgadis woke up in a panic, puffing heavily as he once again came to the slow realization that he was dreaming again. Once again, he assessed his surroundings; The sky was completely overcast, dawn seemed to be approaching, the fire was nothing more then embers again, and otherwise everything was as he had left it.

Everything, that is, except for...

"Amelia?" he called out as he realized that the Amelia-sized indentation in the snow was empty. "Amelia?" he called louder, his voice slightly echoing through the trees. A couple of winter-birds rushed out from the branches, but otherwise, there wasn't any sign of the princess.

"Damn it, Amelia," Zel cursed as he got out of his own snowbank bed, "How the hell am I supposed to protect you like your father wants me to when you disappear in the middle of the night?"

It didn't take long for the chimera to find her tracks, so he quickly broke camp, buried the embers in snow, and then proceeded to fallow them. After about an hour, when it became officially morning, he realized that the tracks lead straight back to Belleros.

"Why would you go back to the town?" Zel asked as he replaced his hood and mask, more to himself then anything else. After a brief pause of bewilderment, in which he tried to find the logic of Amelia's actions, he saw a large explosion clear on the other side of town; an explosion that Zelgadis realized with a sweat-drop was one of Lina's Fireballs.

"I think I may have just found out where," he sighed, deciding to Raywing over to where the site of the explosion was.

* * *

><p>Earlier, while Zel was still caught in his now-regular nightmare, it was still quite dark when Lina finally crawled out of bed. She wasn't sure what actually <em>made <em>her decide to get up and dressed much earlier then she would have liked, but Lina was never really one to worry about details like that. What really surprised her was the fact that Gourry was not only up and about as well, but already downstairs in the dining hall of the tavern and had already ordered triple servings of the Early Bird Special for both himself and Lina.

"What're you doing up so early, Gourry?" the sorceress asked, knowing that Gourry was just as bad if not worse then she was about getting up in the morning.

"Oh, hey, Lina," the blond greeted before making another attack at an omelette, "I couldn't really sleep last night, so I decided that it would be better to just have an early start today."

Lina sat down across from her friend while she stared at the ceiling. "Yeah, I guess if you can't get any rest, you might as well get your day started. By the way, you wouldn't have happened to see Xellos out and about, did you?"

"Haven't seen him since last night," answered Gourry as he took another swig of coffee.

"Thought he might have left already," sighed Lina,

"At least he kept his word and took care of our bill last night," smiled Gourry, "He even left enough for breakfast too!"

"He probably went to those ruins to take care of that _business_, didn't he?" Lina thought aloud, not paying any attention to Gourry.

"But why would he leave if the place has a public bathroom?" asked Gourry. "It's kept decently clean too,-"

He was abruptly silenced by a smack to the face courtesy of Lina.

"I was talking about those ruins, numbskull," Lina clarified. "Clearly, regardless of legends and bedtime stories, there's something inside that's making the locals of Belleros go missing, and a certain monster that we know has business with those same ruins."

That was when Lina gave Gourry a mischievous, demon-like look that he only knew too well.

"Why don't we go and take a peek at what our dear Xellos is really up to?"

"Wha-?"

It didn't take long for the two of them to finish their meal, nor was it too difficult to make it to the other side of the town, where the ruins were supposed to be. All that they could see that indicated the site was a large gate with nothing behind it, and a guard in front clad in full armor and trudging from the nearby woodlands. However, this soldier was looking quite windblown; indeed, his hair was sticking out in odd places, and he had the harrowed look like a rat that got itself caught in a tornado and only survived with little more then bruising by lucky circumstance, using a spear he had as a walking stick.

"Hey, weren't you the guy from last night?" inquired Gourry, recognizing him as the bear-like guy who busted his sword on Zelgadis's rock-hard throat.

"Good morning, sir!" said Lina cheerfully, "You wouldn't by any chance know where a supposed haunted ruin is would you?"

The guard paused his attempts to remove the snow and pine needles that were caught in his hair as he turned towards the duo.

"Huh?" he stammered, "You're the outsiders that came in when that Abomination did, aren't you?"

"W-well...," stammered Lina, trying to come up with a good lie.

"It was terrible!" the guard wailed as he dropped his spear and hugged Lina about shoulders, tears streaming down his face like waterfalls. "That Abomination... That Abomination..."

"What about the Abomination?" asked a dumbfounded Gourry.

"The Abomination... We should have known that.. that... that the GIRL he was with was the true monstrosity!"

"Huh? GIrl?" Gourry pondered for a moment, "Oh, you mean Amelia?"

"How could an Abomination be so mean as to look like a human?" the man sobbed. "After I started my shift guarding this gate," [A/N: Flashback mode, viewers!] "I saw her approaching from out of the woods, no sign of the first Abomination anywhere. I was like, 'Hey! Weren't you the wench with the Abomination,' but she didn't say anything and just kept walking past me towards the Gates. I told her, 'Hey, you can't go there! Not even the people of Belleros are allowed to go Underground!' She still ignored me, so I tried to scare her away by rushing at her with my sword..."

At the mention of this, he took one of his hands off of Lina and reached for the hilt in his scabbard, only to bring out another broken sword, cleaved in the same place as his previous one. "And she turned around and yelled some sort of magic words, then a giant burst of wind came out of her hands and..." At this, he practically collapsed on Lina's shoulder as tears gushed out of his eyes. "I barely came back just now!"

"I get it, I think," mused Gourry, rubbing the bottom of his chin in deep thought. "So you're saying that even humans who can use magic are Abominations as well."

"A simple bloke like me gets blown all the way to kingdom come, and all you're worry about is what an Abomination is?" the guard practically screamed in disbelief as he squeezed Lina tighter. "Aren't you at all worried about the welfare of a fellow man?"

At this point, Lina herself was shaking in rage from being used as a support-beam/stuffed animal, and she couldn't seem to take it anymore.

"Would you get _OFF OF ME?_" screeched Lina, shoving the large man off of her with all her physical might.

After brushing off her hands and allowing the sniveling guard a moment to hug his spear like a teddy-bear, she flipped back her hair and sighed.

"Look," said the irked sorceress, "I'm _really_ sorry that you seem to be having such a bad day, but we're kind of in a hurry, so would you _please_ be so kind as to tell us if the haunted ruins are behind that gate you seem to be guarding?"

"Y-you want to go to the ruins too?" stuttered the guard.

"If a guy with purple hair came through here, you can just point us in the direction that he went," Lina added, ignoring the guard.

"B-but I just said that nobody's allowed in there! I'm already going to get in big trouble for letting the She-Abomination passed me, and-"

"Well then," grinned Lina evilly as an orange and red glowing mass formed in her hands, "It looks as if we're just going to have _ourselves_ in anyway, aren't we?"

"N-n-no," stammered the guard when he realized what Lina was doing, "No... Y-you can't be another Abomination, can you?"

"You say that you're calling _me_ the beautiful genius sorceress Lina Inverse, an _ABOMINATION?_"

"Oh great, now you made her mad," sighed Gourry as he started saying a prayer for the guard's soul.

"I'll show you an Abomination!" Lina growled as she let loose her spell. "_FIREBALL!_"

And once again, the poor guard found himself launched into the air, abate extra-crispy, as Lina and Gourry made their way in through the unlocked gate.

"Was that really necessary, Lina?" asked Gourry as they wandered into the only structure that lay behind the gate, which seemed to be marly an outdated and slightly dilapidated temple.

"Nobody calls Lina Inverse an Abomination to my face and and gets away with it!" huffed the red-head, "I don't care if they call all spell-casters and humanoids an Abomination, that's not something you say to a beautiful young maiden!"

"Some maiden," sighed the swordsman as they entered the temple. "Still, you didn't need to be so rough."

The inside of it wasn't really much to look at, other then the fact that it seemed to be nothing more then a long tunnel lined with lit tourches.

"Hey Gourry," paused Lina, forgetting her earlier aggravation when she observed their surroundings, "Remember what Xelloss told us about these ruins being abandoned, and how nobody was allowed to go in?"

"Yeah," agreed Gourry, "But the guard said that Amelia did come in."

"But Amelia wouldn't bother herself with lighting a bunch of torches," reasoned Lina, "She would just use a Lightning spell or something. And there's another thing; the guy said that she came here alone. Do you think something would have happened to Zel?"

"Well, he is still trying to get his human body back," said Gourry. "Maybe he went ahead of us and tried to find the Wish-thingy?"

"Zel maybe desperate to cure himself, but he wouldn't abandon Amelia. For one, Prince Phil made him her sworn protecter, and Zel isn't one for going back on his word. For another," she added in a devilish way, "I don't think he protects her _just_ because he's her bodyguard, if you know what I mean."

"Huh?" asked Gourry dumbly.

"Never mind," exasperated Lina. Then something caught her attention.

"Hey Gourry, can you hear that?" asked Lina in a whisper as she started hearing some sort of faint music. "Gourry?"

She turned towards her partner, but Gourry had completely disappeared.

"Gourry?" called Lina louder as the music became louder. "Hey Gourry! Where are you? Gourry?"

That was when something caught her eye on the ground. "What the heck-?" she asked as she bent down to pick it up.

* * *

><p>I know, its a rough start, but I hope that I at least got the characters right. Yes, I'm breaking these up as stand-alone episodes that string into each other. Sorry if that's annoying, but then again, I've been known to be annoying myself. As far as possible opening and closing credits, the only thing that I was able to come up with, if this was an official anime series and not just a fanfiction, would be a techno, DDR-style version of <em>Underground<em> for opening, and _Dance Magic_ for the closing (both sung by Japanese female pop idols with arrangements by Daisuke Asakura) But that's just my personal fantasy. Maybe that's happening in an alternate universe... Who knows... BTW, I hoped that everybody enjoyed my cameo. Yes, while I normally don't believe in putting one's self inside a fanfiction unless its a heavy parody, I really wanted to make a cameo in this one. And I can assure you, that if I _did_ see Zelgadis walking into a restaurant, I'm more then likely going to make him my plushy then call him an abomination... He's way too bishi-awesome for such a fate, and I aspire to become not only a member of his fanclub, but to get D-Kun to cosplay as him at the next con (which D-kun has already agreed to do ^_^). And yes, my hair is blue right now (although it'll probably be bubblegum pink by next week).

Aaaaanyway, I hope that you liked this, and hopefully the next chapter will be posted soon (I was already half-way through writing the second chapter when I posted this one). Oh, I should warn you that since this is still a work in progress, there is a possibility that I may take down and re-post chapters after editing. Constructive reviews are welcome, and Flames are understandable (Just realize that while I expect and thus welcome flames, I will not take them into account during the creative process given to the nature of a Flame)

Also, Sorry if the use of the English is annoying to die-hard fans. While in my Sailor Moon and other anime fics I use and/or intend to use proper Japanese honorifics and terminology in speech, I found that (even though this sounds like sacrilege) the dub version of _Slayers_ is better then the original Japanese version (mostly because the series takes place in a western-style fantasy universe)- not to mention I can't think of Zelgadis and _not_ think of Crispin Freeman. OMG if I wasn't engaged to D-Kun I'd try to marry that voice (Just the voice, since I don't know Freeman-Sama personally). If it bugs you, you can either get over it or read a different fic.

So what do you think happened to Lina and Gourry? What about Amelia? Will Zelgadis find out what happened to them, or will he find himself tangled in a proverbial spider's web of deceit and Lies? And What about Xelloss? What's got him mixed up in this?

**Xellos:** Didn't I already tell everyone Tsuki?

**Tsuki-Chan:** Yeah, we know already... "Its a secret."

**Xellos:** Aww, and I really wanted to say that too...

**Sailor Aquarius****:** Not to worry, man, we'll give you _plenty_ of opportunity to say it.

Xellos: Yippy!

So please review, and I'll hopefully have the next chappie up soon! Thank you for reading this!

_Sincerely,_

_Tsuki-Chan  
><em>


	2. Chapter 2

I'm just going to say this again, I do not own the rights to _The Slayers_ or Jim Henson's _Labyrinth_. I'm just a fan of both, and do not seek to make any money off of this fanfiction. I also do not own the rights to _Underground_, which is property of David Bowie, Jim Henson Records, and whoever else owns the actual copyright laws to the song. I am only using the song due to the fact that the it's from the _Labyrinth_ soundtrack, and only took literary liberties to change some of the wording in the song to make it fit the fic better, (since my main protagonist is male). Again, I don't want to sell or profit from any of this. I don't own it. Period.

* * *

><p>If he had decided to walk around the city, it would have taken him two hours to get there. If he had walked through the city, it would have taken him only one hour, but by flying, Zelgadis managed to arrive at the gate in around thirty minutes. In fact, he was touching down at the small crater of melted snow in front of the gate as he noticed a charred individual limp out of the woods, using a fallen branch as a support and holding on to two halves of a broken spear.<p>

"Abominations..." the burnt man murmured, "Abominations are everywhere..."

"You know, I'm _really_ getting tired of hearing all this 'Abomination' talk." said Zel with a low growl in his voice.

"N-n-no!" trembled the guard in horror, "You're the Abomination from last night! The one who came with the She-Abomination!"

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: Underground! Where The Heck Am I?<p>

* * *

><p>"She-Abomination?" Zel asked.<p>

"Y-y-yeah!" said the guard that Zel finally recognized, "Y-you're little _girlfriend_ went and blew me into them woods..."

"W-what?" Interjected Zel, feeling his face burn red for the umpteenth time, "She's not my girlfriend!"

T-then th-those other two monsters blew me up again," continued the guard, not paying any attention to the chimera, "The whole lot of you t-trying to get into our Old Capital.."

"So I take it that this _is _the enterance to the ruins, isn't it?"

"A-And now..." The guard took the branch he was using as a crutch and limped over to the chimera as fast as he could, getting ready to slug him.

"And now I'm gonna finally kills you to keep more of you from getting in!" he laughed maniacally. It was plain to see that after being blown up twice, he had lost his mind in the process.

"Oh please," groaned Zelgadis, "_BOMB DI WIND!_"

"NOT AGAAIIINnnn..." the bear-like guard screamed as he was, for the third time, shot into the air.

"Oh you'll live," said Zelgadis as he continued through the gate. Hovering several feet above his head, watching the whole ordeal and unbenounced to Zelgadis, was a certain Monster with a cheshire-cat grin, shaking with quiet laughter at the poor guard.

"Wow, this was too perfect," Xelloss chuckled, wiping away a tear of laughter, "But unfortunately, I really do have important work to take care of." And with that, Xelloss phased out of the sky.

On the other side of the gate, all that Zelgadis could see was the temple. Unlike Lina and Gourry, Zel took a moment to admire the architecture. At the front of it were columns topped with Corinthian capitals, which were were supporting a pediment decorated with numerous jet owls against an arabesque relief made of various types of marble. The marble entabletures also bared the same owl-and-foliage relief in the frieze, abate with marble owls rather then jet. The actual doors, which seemed to be of solid oak, were ajar, although that was probably due to the fact that one of the doors was only hanging by one rusty hinge. Between the pediment and the roof of the structure were several, Gothic-inspired stained-glass windows; most of them were broken, but the few that were still intact had depictions of people, angels, and owls. On the top of the temple was a colossal copper onion-shape dome, now green from oxidisation. The entire building seemed to stand several stories tall, but it was difficult to tell if it ended at the foot of the mountain behind it, or if it extended into the mountain. Despite the grand size and structure, it still seemed far-fetched that this was the entirety of the Old Capital's ruins.

"Is this seriously what is left of some great city?" Zel asked, again, to nobody in particular. He did see three different sets of footprints in the snow leading to the door, and could already tell who all three belonged to. He was beginning to feel annoyed with the notion that Amelia would have gone to the ruins with Lina and Gourry, but not Zelgadis; yet he couldn't shake off the notion that something was off about the whole senario.

His thoughts were interupted by the screech of a black owl that decided to use the edge of the temple's pediment as a perch. Indeed, it would have been almost impossible to distinguish it from its stony brotheren if it weren't for its feathers that moved with the slight breeze, and its brillant eyes; its left eye was a vivid poison green, while its right eye was a deep blood-filled red. The owl seemed to scrutanize the chimera as much as said chimera scrutanized it.

But Zel had more pressing matters to deal with then heterochromial owls, so he mentally cast the owl aside as he went inside the temple.

"Amelia?" Zelgadis called out through the hall that seemed longer then the exterior of the temple alluded to, "Lina? Gourry?"

He called all three of them out as he continued down the hallway, noticing how the wall was lined with lit tourches. However, no one answered back.

"Lina!" Zel continued to call, "Gourry? Amel-!"

He was interrupted by the sound of music, comming from down the hall. Zelgadis stopped dead in his tracks, not sure if he should follow it to the source, or if he should try to avoid it. Before he had made a decision though, he noticed something rolling on the ground; a small, crystal sphere, big enough to fit in his hand.

"What the hell-?" he stammered, chasing after it before he realized what he was doing. The ball continued to roll just out of Zelgadis's reach, until it got to a circular impression in the floor. As soon as the ball dissapeared from sight, a male voice joined with the music that was still ringing in Zelgadis's ears.

"It's only forever," it sang,

Not long at all

Lost and lonely..."

* * *

><p>Xelloss was a very powerful Monster, but like almost all Monsters, he fed off of the negative emotions of living things; particularly humans. So when he saw the bear-like Guard crawling back to his post with the two halves of his branch in each hand, he couldn't pass up the opertunity for another helping of missery, fear, and panic before a large treck through mysterious ruins.<p>

The poor Guard had bearly managed to crawl his way back to his post; here he was, battered, bruised, burnt, had a black eye and was probably posessing a broken rib or two after crashing down through trees three times in one day.

"K-keep p-people out of the O-o-old C-capital," the guard muttered to himself, shivering from the cold. "J-just stand o-outs-side the Gate, a-and t-tell people t-to keep out... D-d-don't let anyone g-go U-underground... T-that's all the j-job discription s-says... And then all of these Ab-b-bomin-na-nations..."

He gritted his teeth in anger at the thought of the Capital being invaded by Abominations, and in said fit of anger, he managed to reignite his resolve.

"W-well, I'll be d-d-damned if I l-let another one in!" he exclaimed to the Heavens. "B-by the G-g-great Hero, I'll sh-show whoever else tries to get p-p-p-passed me into the Underg-ground!"

Thus, in his state of mental health, he had decided to go to extreme measures to do his solomn duty to keep people from going inside the ruin... by setting a series of complicated and rather excessive traps using items he found in the artilary shed that was intended for those who protected Belleros's Old Capital. All in all, he managed to effeciantly construct, fix, and camofloge them in a relatively short ammount of time... and each one of them was linked by a single trip wire that would trigger them all in one foul swoop.

"There!" the Guard proclaimed as he dusted off his hands. "All done!"

He took a second to admire his handiwork; From the right was a large log, big enough to sweep through the entire pathway, that had wooden spikes affixed to it, perfectly camoflauged and suspended by ropes tied to other trees in order to allow it to swing towards the victim. To the left were several cross-bows, well hidden in tree branches and poised to launch their arrows. Behind the guard some ways was a collsal snowball, almost bigger then a large boulder. The only thing keeping it from rolling onto the guard (and anybody else standing before the Gates for that matter) were a couple of firelogs and a single wedge, ready to topple over as soon as they were triggered. Finally, there was Lina's Fireball crator, which the guard had converted into a spike-filled pit that was hidden benieth a layer of twigs, weak timber, and snow to hide its existance.

The guard found himself chuckling as he tried rubbng the warmth back into his fridged hands.

"Now the next time an intruder, Outsider, or Abomination even _tries_ to enter the Old Capital," said the guard maniacly, "They'll never even know what hit them!"

He took a quick glance to his left, his right, and then behind him, and decided to take the opertunity to let loose a haughty laugh. A laugh so haughty, in fact, that he was oblivious to the purple-haired man who suddenly appeared out of thin air behind him and tapped his shoulder.

"Excuse me," said the man as the guard gave a yelp and jumped like a startled cat... landing right on his own trip wire.

The guard had only a single second to see the polite, yet creepy smile on the intruder's face before realizing that the spiked log was swinging straight at him.

The guard plastered himself to the ground as flat as he possibly could (which was difficult, due to his bulk), narrowily missing the spikes while the smiling man simply raised a finger, and created a jet of light that cleaved the log in half. The guard was too close to the gournd to notice what the stranger had done, and soon felt his cape become tangled in the spikes that were on his half of the log. After being dragged a couple feet, he managed to tear it off of the spikes, feeling winded after being nearly strangled by his own garment.

Pulling himself back to his feet, massaging his neck, his eyes widened when he saw Xellos still standing where he was.

"You should be more careful about where you step, sir," said Xellos cheerfully. "There are apparently a couple of traps here."

As he said that, it was the crossbows turn to do their duty. A shower of arrows flew at the two men, the guard trying desperately to dodge each one of them, with several of them catching at his clothing, and some even meeting their mark in his backside. Xellos easily darted between the arrows, even catching a few in his hand.

"So I was wondering," asked the Monster pleasently as he pointed to the Gates, "Would this happen to be the enterance to the Ruins of the Old Capital?"

"Are you some other kind of Abomination?" the exasporated screached, noticing how the priest-like man was a couple of feet closer to the gate then he was, was completely unscathed, and happened to be holding a decient number of arrows.

"Oh my, was it really that obvious?" asked Xellos, scratching the back of his head and laughing it off mildly.

"WHAT?"

Before he could properly react to this news, he heard the sound of firelogs rolling down a snowy hill, and slowly (chibi-mode still) turned his head to see the giant snowball coming right at him.

He let out a girly scream as he tried to out-run the snow-boulder, Xellos floating close next to him.

"You still didn't answer my question," grinned the humanoid. "Does this lead to the Old Capital?"

"What the heck kind of Abomination are you?" squealed the guard like a frightened pig, now trying to escape both the snowball and Xellos.

Unfortunately, he forgot about his last trap, and stepped right on the layer of snow and brush that concieled the pit of spikes. At the very last moment, the guard managed to grip the edge of the pit to avoid getting skewered. The giant snowball tumbled over him and went right into the chasm, completely covering the spikes.

It took a while for the Guard to realize that the whole fiasco was over. In fact, he might not have found out if he didn't lose his grip on the ledge. He fell into the pit with a slight _plop_ in the snow, screaming the whole way towards what he believed would be his death.

After a couple of short beats in time, he slowly opened one eye, assessing weather or not he was in the afterlife.

"Am I dead?" he asked himself aloud in almost a whisper. He looked around, and then gingerly opened his other eye (the bruised one) to take in his surroundings. Everything seemed calm now, save for the screeches of a nearby owl. There was no sign of Xellos anywere, either.

"Is he gone?" the Guard continued in that same near-whisper, gingerly getting back to his feet. "Did I manage to keep him out?"

With no one responding back, and the lack of a Xellos in direct line of sight, the guard gave a series of triumphant cries, ranging from Woo-Hoos, to Allelujias, to _Woot Woot_'s, all the while dancing goofily and periodicly kissing the blessed terra-firma.

"I'M ALIVE!" the Guard yelled in delight as he jumped in the air. "I'M LIVE AND I KEPT THE ABOMINATION OUT OF THE CAPITAL! I KEPT IT OUT! I KEPT IT-"

Before he had even finished his sentence, the other half of the log that wasn't spike-infested had made contact with him in the backswing, and he was once again thrown into the air, vanishing in a slight _ding_.

"So this is the way to the Capital, then," Xellos smiled as he reappeared just outside of the gates. "Thank you for your time sir! Have a nice trip!"

With that, the Monster proceeded through the gates and towards the temple. He could already hear the strange music as he went through the old, broken doors, and his smile began to somewhat falter.

"Oh, I do hope I'm not too late," he mermered under his breath as a crystal sphere rolled passed him.

* * *

><p>'<em>What's happening?<em>' Zel tried to think, but his body, as well as at least part of his mind, was still compelled to capture the crystal ball that vanished into the circle. That was when the tempo of the music began to pick up.

"No one can blame you," came the voice, much louder and clearer this time,

"For walking away.

Too much rejection...

No love injection."

He set foot on one of the tiles that made up the circle, and ws shocked to find that his foot dissapeared into it. His other foot fallowed, and he found himself decending into the floor as if he were mearly going down a tightly-wound spiral staircase.

"Life can be easy," the disembodied voice continued to sing,

"It's not always swell.

Don't tell me truth hurts, my friend,

'Cause it hurts like hell..."

At this point, Zel had completely phased through the seemingly solid floor and was now in a strange space filled with dark, shifting colors and brightly glowing spheres, the only thing solid besides himself being the spiral stare he was still decending down, and the crystal ball that was still bouncing down the stares. _Tink_, _tink_, _tink_, went the ball in time to the beat of the strange music.

"But down in the underground,

You'll find someone true.

Down in the underground

A land serene,

A crystal moon. Ahh-Haa!"

The sound of the bouncing ball finally stopped, and not too soon afterword, Zel reached the end of the stairs and thus level ground. It didn't take too long to find the crystal, as it was the only sphere that was neither a significant light source nor beyond the confines of the space he inhabited. Finally, he could reach it! He bent down and felt his stoney fingers eclose around the smooth, cool, glass-like serfice of the ball.

"It's only forever

Not long at all

Lost and lonely

That's underground

Underground!"

Bringing the crystal to eye-level, Zelgadis gazed into it deeply. What he saw inside of it snapped him out of whatever trance he was in: It was his own reflection, but with skin the color of normal skin without a single pebble in sight, and purple hair like normal, human hair instead of wire. He pulled down his hood and mask, and sure enough, it was his old self staring back at him, now older to match his current age.

"Daddy, daddy, get me out of here!" the voice continued to sing as Zel stared in disblief.

Ha ha I'm underground!"

The ball in his hands began to swell, but Zelgadis couldn't take his eyes off of it. All he wanted was to be completely human again, and here was something showing it. As it swelled, he felt his hand turn cooler, cooler, and cooler, before finally realizing that his hand was being ubsorbed into the crystal... And when his hand was completely immersed in the seemingly solid mass, he could see and even feel his rock-like fingers turn to flesh, rubbing them together to conferm what his other senses were telling him.

"Heard about a place today!"

His hand was completely human!

"Nothing ever hurts again!"

And as the ball expanded and took in the rest of his arm, so was the arm!

"Daddy, daddy, get me out of here!"

Zel could feel his feet lift from the ground as his entire body was swallowed by the glass bubble!

"Ah ha I'm underground!"

He was finally turning human! He could imagine his friends' reactions to his new form. Their smiles, their congradulations. Amelia's eyes dancing like they did last night, full of joy and amazement.

"Sister sister, please take me down!"

This was too good to be true!

"Ah ah I'm underground!"

Wait... This _was_ too good to be true...

"Daddy, daddy,-!"

"Let me out of here!" roared Zelgadis in sterio to the last line of the song.

The chimera drew out his sword and sliced at the bubble, which shattered upon impact. As the glass shards decended slowly into the strang landscape, his body returned to its usual rocky form, anger and adrenaline rushing through his vains. But he was no longer standing on anything solid, and his anger had morphed into fear of impending death as he began to plumet through the strange space.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHH!" he screamed as he continued to fall, right hand still gripping his sword for dear life, left hand grasping for anything that would stop the fll before impact.

"Gotchya!" exclaimed Xellos as his gloved hand wrapped tightly around the chimera's wrist.

"Xellos?" gasped Zelgadis, wondering what the heck was going on.

"It seems that I wasn't too late after all," Xellos grinned as he slowly hovered downwards, until Zel could feel his feet make contact with solid ground again, crunching in a layer of snow. Xellos landed next to him while Zel took a look around, still seeing nothing but dark swirling colors, snow, and glowing spheres.

"Oh, what a pity," came a somewhat deep, husky voice from everywhere. Xellos and Zelgadis whirled around, trying to find the speaker, but couldn't see anything other then a black owl... the same black owl Zel saw earlier that morning.

The owl zoomed around the stretch of space, making several circles around the two humanoids, before flying at them kamikaze style. Xellos didn't even flinch when the bird of prey came at him, mearly phasing out and back again after getting dive-bombed. Zelgadis put his arm about his face, trying to keep the owl from clawing his eyes out while brandishing the sword at it. The owl then ceased his attacks, and then flew back up into the void before landing a couple of feet before the duo. As it landed, the snow began to blow and swirl around it, along with several sparks, shimmers, and green-black flames. The flame-snow-and-shimer swirl bacame larger and larger until it was about seven feet high, at which point it dissapated in a sudden burst of light. Zel had to shield his eyes from becoming blinded, but when the specticle was over, the owl had been replaced by a man.

The man was nothing like Zelgadis had ever seen. His skin was onyx-black, almost like burnt metal, but the skin still shimmered as if he had glitter set into every facit of his body. He had long, ghost-white hair that was tied at the base of his neck, save for a single lock that came across his face and ended at his pointed chin. His ears were pointed, not near as much as Zel's, and had gold hoops going through the lobes of each ear. His face as a whole was thin, but regal- somewhat luciferion. Yet his every feature seemed to be dripping with charisma. The poinytail came across his shoulder, revealing a slightly-bare chest that was also black and glittery, and had a white, semi-ruffled shirt that stood out against the rest of his attire. Aside from his loose-fited shirt, the stranger wore long, tight pants that excentuated his masculenity, black leather boots that had a slight heel, long, black leather gloves that went up to his elbows, and a long, robe-like coat that looked purple against his skin, and was decorated with black feathers and a stylized collar that resembled flames. The only evidance that proved he was the owl, besides the feathery robe, were his eyes. Like the owl, his left eye was bright green while the left was a deep red. Both eyes had thin pupils, similar to that of a snake's and were accentuated with white and purple marking. While Zel was good at hiding it, it was the man's eyes that freaked him out the most.

"It's such a pity that you would cast asside the gift I was trying to give you," said the drow-like man with the same deep voice that echoed out earlier. Zel immediately recognized it as the same voice that was singing earlier.

"Who are you?" Zel demanded as he sank into a fighting stance. "And what the hell is this place?"

"What the hell indeed," mused the man, smiling about the dark void. "Hell is actually quite appropriate from _my _perspective, but for someone from the Outside comming here, such as yourself, this is paradise." The stranger gestured towards the swirling colors around them, and they instantly morphed into different landscapes that shifted into each other, ranging from vast deserts to snowy mountains, to lush woodlands and, tropical rain forests, to cloudscapes and underseascapes, to scenes that were unlike anything Zel had seen anywhere other then in dreams.

"As for who I am," the man continued, "Names serve no purpose for my kind. But since you asked, you may call me Ifrit." Ifrit finished his introduction with a deep bow.

"Ifrit... so you're the Wonderous Granter of Wishes that the legends talk about," said Xellos.

Ifrit's eyes narrowed somewhat at Xellos, but he smiled lightly at the title.

"I have been called that, yes," Ifrit replied. "I am a Djinn, an entity made of the burning fires that created the cosmos. As such, I have the power to give anybody who says the Right Words whatever they ask for, once they enter my realm. Your wish, Zelgadis Greywords, was to become fully human again."

"How do you know-?"

"Because you made a wish," the dark Djinn answered. "Once someone makes a wish, I instantly know everything about them. You, the maiden, and your other friends all made a wish each, so I now know everything about Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabirav, Princess Amelia of Seyruun, and yourself."

"Where are they?" demanded Zelgadis, feeling his grip tightning on the hilt of his blade. "What have you done with the others?"

"Nothing they wouldn't want me to do," said Ifrit. "All that I did was grant their desires, which I have already done _exactly_ as they wanted, save for yours."

As he continued with his gloating, he strolled closer and closer to Zelgadis, who refused to let down his guard.

"I was actually in the process of turning you human, but I seemed to have startled you while doing so. Please forgive me." He gave Zelgadis another bow as he apologized, not really sounding sincere.

"So to compinsate for... overwhelming you, I have brought you a gift," He brought his hand close to his green eye, which glowed brightly before another crystal ball materialized onto his fingertips.

"What is that?" Zel asked hesitantly, unable to take his eyes away from the ball.

"Its just a crystal, nothing more." Ifrit explained, his grin becoming wider as he could feel Zel's attention go back to the sphere. He began playing with it, contact juggling it from his left hand to his right, and back again, watching as Zel began to fall back into its spell.

"But if you look at it this way," continued the Djinn, "It will show you your dreams." Ifrit paused his juggling and held out the sphere to Zelgadis, his reflection being that of his former, human self.

"And if you hold it this way," Ifrit went on as he let the ball rest in the palm of his hand, "It will make those dreams come true." As he said that, the sphere instantly encased the Djinn and changed his form instantly to that of Zelgadis's human form, abait with a white, princely uniform.

"Mind you," said Ifrit, his voice now Zelgadis's voice, "this is not a normal gift for a sorcerer who is mearly a princess's bodyguard, or a chimera who is little more then a sorceress's party member." Ifrit-Zelgadis allowed his white gloved hand to melt through the bubble, and on the other side, the glove went from being white cloth to black leather; the crystal sphere returning to his fingertips.

"So what do you say, Zelgadis?" he heard his own voice ask. "Here's your chance to get back what you have been searching for for so many years. Forget about those traveling companions. You'll never need to hide your face ever again."

Zel could feel his body relax as he lowered his sword, hand raising slowly towards the crystal in Ifrit-Zelgadis's hand. He was just barely able to touch it when Xellos, realizing what was happening to the chimera, clonked him over the head with his staff.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Demanded Zel, slipping out of the trance. He may have been part rock-golem, but it still hurt to get hit with a Monster's staff.

"I'm sorry Mr. Zelgadis, but shouldn't you be focusing on getting Miss Lina, Mr. Gourry and Miss Amelia back?" Xellos asked, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

When Zel became aware of what had almost happened, he turned towards Ifrit, who was still in the form of Human-Prince-Zelgadis, giving him a harsh glare.

"As wonderful as your offer sounds," said Zel, grabbing a few strands of his own hair, "I can't let Amelia and the others remain capive here!"

He threw the needle-like strands of hair at the bubble-incased Djinn, which shattered immediately. When it fragmentalized, though, Ifrit was nowhere in sight among the falling glass shards..

"Zelgadis," came Ifrit from behind (now in Ifrit's actual voice), "Don't defy me."

Zel had just enough time to turn around and watch as Ifrit's red eye glowed menacingly, the crystal in his hand turning into a cobra. The cobra lunged at the chimera, who sliced it in two with his blade. the snake halves fell to the ground, becoming two halves of a silk scarf as it landed.

"Return the others!" Zel ordered, ready to run his sword through Ifrit's exposed chest. "Before I decapitate you as well!"

The Djinn chuckled, revealing rows of sharp, vampire-like teeth. The chuckle reverberated throughout the strange space until it became a cruel, echoing laugh.

"I see that you're not yet ready to accept my gift," Ifrit laughed, "Unfortunately, that is one wish I might not be able to grant."

"But aren't you the Great and Powerful Granter of Wishes?" asked Xellos with a slight bow, "One of the Mighty Djinn who were gifted with Phenominal Cosmic power over all of reality? Surely something as simple as returning our friends would be easily within your capabilities."

Ifrit's eyes narrowed at Xellos again, and it was hard to tell if Xellos was complimenting or insulting him.

Ifrit seemed to have thought it better to ignore Xellos's compliments, and just answered the inquiry.

"Ah, if only it were as simple as that," sighed Ifrit, "Unfortunately, I can never directly apose a wish once its been granted, and everyone I have ever helped has been quite happy with what I've given them."

Ifrit circled around Xellos and Zelgadis, Zel refusing to take his eyes off of the Djinn in case he tried to pull something else.

"Oh, don't look at me like that," said Ifrit with a slight pout in his tone. "All I want to do is to give you what you want! But if you insist that you want your friends to go back with you to the Serfice... I know!" Ifrit exclaimed as he ceased his pacing, facing Zelgadis and Xellos directly. "Do you enjoy puzzles, Zelgadis?"

Zel was somewhat taken aback by the Djinn's query.

"Why are you asking me about puzzles?"

"Here's what I prepose," said Ifrit, his grin never leaving his face, "If you can find _all_ of your friends and bring them to my palace within my city, I'll let you, Miss Inverse, Mr, Gabriav, and Princess Amelia go home. If you cannot complete this task in the ammount of time I give you, then your friends, as well as yourself, will remain here for as long as you enjoy your wishes. Either way, its a win-win, if you ask me."

"And if I don't play your game?"

"That would be even more of a pity then your resolve to chalange me," Ifrit explained. "I _could_ always just kill you. I can most certainly say that I am one of the very few Djinn who is capable of taking life, whether it be a wish or a personal whim. Shall I demonstrate?"

Before Zelgadis or Xellos could even react, both of Ifrit's eyes glowed as he conjured another sphere, dark now instead of clear, but on the inside ws a minature of Zelgadis and Xellos, standing and moving like they were now. Then Ifrit removed one of his gloves, revealing a hand black as the rest of his skin, with red and gold fingernails that were as long and sharp as talons.

He then scraped his nails on the serface of the glass, and Zel immediately collapsed as a high-pitched scraping sound worse then anything he had ever heard in his life reverberated in his skull. He couldn't even hear himself cry out in pain, it was so loud. He tried desperately to cover his ears, but it didn't help at all. He was deaf to Xellos's screams of equal agony, and the chimera could feel a warm liquid seep out of his ears and over his hands.

After what seemed like an eternity of the terrible screaching sound, it finally stopped. Zel's eyes were wide and scattershot, his blood-soaked hands still plastered to his ears as he hyperventalated, lying in an almost fetal position, and unbelieving in what he had just experienced.

"That's mearly a sample of what I am capable of," Ifrit said calmly, kneeling next to Zelgadis's head. "As you can see from your friend there, Monsters are just as powerless as humans aginst my displeasure, and I can most certainly do much worse if I so desired."

Zel managed to focus his gaze towards the shivering lump that was Xellos, who looked like he was in almost as much pain as the chimera was. True, he wasn't bleeding from the ears like the chimera, but the look of shock and agony reflected Zel's.

But you're very unique, Zelgadis." assured Ifrit in an almost soothing manor. "Very few humans wish for something as simple as to be themselves. Plus, humans are of more use to me alive and happy then dead, even if they are mearly part human. I would really hate having to kill someone like you."

Ifrit replaced his glove and lightly touched Zelgadis's head. Instantly, the pain and bodily harm that the Djinn had inflicted was reversed. Zel was still shaking from the shock of the whole ordeal, but he was able to finally remove his hands from his ears. He couldn't see any trace of blood left on his gloves or fingers as he brought his hands to his face.

"So have you changed your mind?" asked the Djinn. "Isn't humanity begening to sound so much better? Or do you still wish to challange me? Even after I returned your health so generously?"

After a few quick and heavy breaths, Zel looked from Ifrit, to the still-agonizing Xellos, and back. The idea of becoming human was his main driving force, the only thing that kept him from having a normal life without the need to hide his face.

But the thought of Amelia, Lina, and Gourry being trapped in a strange demention with a psychopathic entity was enough to strangthen his resolve.

Yet it was obvious that he couldn't just kill Ifrit. Not with power like that.

There was only one other option...

"What kind of puzzles are you talking about?"

"Glad you asked, my friend," grinned the Djinn, taking Zelgadis's hand and helping him to his feet; Zel was upright again before he could even refuse the gesture.

"My palace is located in the center of the City of Dis, what used to be the Old Capital to you humans," said Ifrit, gesturing towards a distant point beyond them. Instantly, a hot, dry, desert landscape replaced the snowy void that they were in earlier, and Zel's eyes widened when he realized that he was standing on a low mesa. "The city itself is in the center of a labyrinth, which is just over there."

Where Ifrit pointed, a distant wall appeared through the vails of blowing sand some miles away from where the mesa where the three men stood, until Zelgadis could see clearly a vast hill, easily hundreds of miles wide, covered with twisting and turning lines that went in every which way... a shining, crystal structure standing in the center of it all.

"You have thirteen days to find all of your friends and meet me in my court," instructed Ifrit. "If your not there with your comrades by midnight of the thriteenth day, then you will either become one of us, or parish."

Zelgadis looked at the labyrinth, but while he had to admit it wouldn't exactly be a cake walk, he smiled to himself as he assessed his options.

"Is that all I have to do?" asked Zel, "Solve your little maze? I won't even need three days to get my friends out of there."

"Perhaps," replied Ifrit, his grin widening. "But you should know that I rebuilt this capital as my personal dominion, and since it is my realm, I assert reality here. Tust me when I say that you'll find that my palace -and your friends- are much farther away then you think."

"Also," Ifrit continued, strolling over to where Xellos was still lying, "You're Monster friend isn't allowed to use _his_ set of skills to help you through either." Ifrit's eyes glowed again as he summoned another sphere with a mini-Xellos inside, and was about to squeeze it when Xellos held up his hand in surrender.

"I'm only here as a messenger from Beastmaster Zelas Metallium, Being of the Flame!" Xellos cried out, gingerly opening one eye as he panted. "It's only out of conveniance that I was traveling with this man, and it's on my Mistress's behalf that I came!"

"A messenger from Beastmaster?" Ifrit snarled, his complete demenior and attitude changing instantly. "Who are you, Monster, and what business would Beastmaster have with me?"

Xellos used his staff to rise slowly to his feet, and even in his current condition, he was still able to make a gesture that could pass for an acceptable bow. "My name is Xellos, Barer of the Cosmos, and as for Beastmaster's buissness," He brought his finger up in what Zel thought was a stupid move. "That is a secret."

"A lot of good a secret will do if I don't know what it is," said Ifrit curtly, contact-juggling the Xellos-sphere. "Surely its not something trifle, if Beastmaster sent her own General and Priest before me as a messenger. Give me one good reason to not kill you right here and now, Xellos, and you can save the flattering titles. A compliment from a Monster is hardly worth its weight in salt."

"I can't really say right now," answered Xellos, flancng over towards Zelgadis, "But once we're no longer in the company of others, I'll be more then willing to share it with you."

Ifrit paused for a minute, studying the Monster's features for any tale that woud reveal dishonesty, but when your dealing with someone who always has the same smile on his face, even when he's obviously suffering from savere injury, its hard to read anything off of him.

"Alright, I'll hear your piece," answered Ifrit, the ball vanishing with a twist of his wrist.

"Thank you for your kindness," said Xellos with a sigh of relief, pulling himself back to his feet with his staff. "Woops!"

As he broght himself upright, a heavy sachel came off of Xellos's shoulder. Zelgadis was suprised by how he failed to notice the bag when the Monster caught him.

"Sorry about that," laughed Xellos. "I believe this is yours, Mr. Zelgadis."

"What are you talk-" started the chimera, but Xellos had already pushed the heavy bag into Zel's arms.

"Whatever you do," said Xellos under his breath, so that only Zel could hear him, "Do not eat or drink _anything_ while your here."

Then Xellos limped over towards the Djinn, smile unwavering. "Shall we continue on with our business?"

"Of course," said Ifrit curtly before turning his attention back to Zelgadis. "And by the way, you always have the option of taking up my offer to lift your curse at any time you wish. Until we meet again..."

And with that, Ifrit's form disapaited as if it were mist.

"Best of luck, Mr. Zelgadis," said Xellos before dissapearing as well. Now Zel was all alone, several miles from the labyrinth, and already feeling the intense heat of the sun trying its best to scorch him.

"Alright," said Zelgadis, placing the sachel over his shoulder. "I guess I can't afford to waste any time then, can I? _LEVITATION!_"

He felt his feet lift the ground, but when he tried to gain altitude as he started towards the labyrinth, his hovering body started moving jerkily to the left and right before loosing control completely of his flight path, which resulted in him tumbling down the mesa into a soft sand dune.

As Zel pushed himself off of the dune, spitting out sand, he heard Ifrit's laughter echoing throughout the arid landscape.

"I forgot to mention," came Ifrit's disembodied voice, "that some spells probably won't work the same way as they do on the Surfice. As one of the rules, no one is allowed to go over, under, or through any of the walls of the Labyrinth. It wouldn't be fair if you just flew over, now would it? Have fun!"

"You're one to talk about fairness!" Zelgadis spat towards the sky, desiring nothing more then to strangle the Djinn. He had to control his anger, though. If he only had thirteen days to find everyone _and_ make it to the center, he couldn't afford to waste his energy on being pissed at Ifrit.

"Lets try this again," sighed Zel to himself as he proceeded on foot towards the Labyrinth.

* * *

><p>Yay! Posted Chapter 2! Finally! Took me long enough!<p>

Sorry for having to take so long to post this thing. Between having automobile problems (I may just have to scrapmetal my poor Selene, depending on what my mechanic says) and having more viruses on the computer then the current antivirus software can even handle, this chapter took way longer then I would even like to admit. Darn it! I wanted to post while my hair was still pink! (Its wildfire red now... damn that girl for selling me the wrong product!)

So what did you think of the chapter? My biggest worry is that I may have had Zelgadis and Xellos drift away somewhat from their character nature. Please let me know if that is the case, and I'll fix it ASAP. The only thing I can't really change is the way that Xellos speaks to Ifrit (which will be explained in future chappies).

Speakin of Ifrit, what was your reaction to him? I wanted a Jareth-like guy who wasn't Jareth (since Zelgadis is pretty much Sarah in this thing, and it isn't a Yaoi or a Shonen-Ai) but had very similar powers and magic range to Jareth. During the planning of this (Because I do plan out my fics) I spent a lot of time between calls at work reading One Thousand and One Arabian Nights (Which, if you haven't read it, YOU SHOULD!), which inspired me to make my villian a Djinn (genie, for those of you who aren't familiar with the term).

An Ifrit (ee-freet) is actually a type of Djinn usually characterized by having black skin (I'm not going into futher details as to the definition of an Ifrit, since they will be explained in future chapters as well). In fact, when people of the Middle East first encountered African tribesmen, they mistook them for Ifrits in legend, and thus treated them with extreme causion (which sometimes ment severe hostility). I however, cannot stand racism in any way, so during the developmental process, I decided to make him resemble a Drow (fo those of you who have never played D&D, a Drow is a Dark Elf that serves as a very strong enemy-type. In Version 4.0 _Forgotten Realms _campigns, a Drow is also a playable character for those who want to play the badguy-turned-good). Think Shiny-beetle black. Or gunmetal black. The fact that his hair is white was somewhat of a coincidence to an actual Drow, as part of his insparation came from the villian from _Revolutionary Girl Utena_. If you didn't see it now, you will in later chappies. I like to picture Ifrit as a Drow, meets sparkily vampire (just because I like sparkily things), meets Akio Ohtori, wearing Jareth's line of clothing and shares the Goblin King's affinity for owls, singing, and contact juggling with crystalware. In some ways, I think I may have made Ifrit a bit too much like Jareth... I don't know anymore... Anyway, please let me know what you think of him.

And because the insparation came from Arabian Mythology, I tried (and probably failed) to incorperate some other aspects of Arabian culture, mostly in the temple design. I was going for a hybred of Greek Temple, Gothic Cathedral, and Islamic Mosque. For people wondering what Arabesque reffers to in archecture (its not the ballet move!), its the swirly designs sometimes seen on mosques and other buildings that tries to replicate plants and add decoration to the holy build while avoiding the breaking of the 2nd Commandment (Thou shalt not make yourself a graven image or any likingness of any thing that is in heaven above or that is in the water undernieth the Earth- quoted from a more recient translation from Deuteronomy 5:6-21) Eh, if I failed, I failed. We won't be seeing the temple for a while now...

I do apologize for the banter; what started out as author's notes turned into a freaking history lesson. Eh, my major's going to be language and Humanities. It's probably going to reflect in this thing (BTW, I would highly recommend taking a Humanities class if you haven't already. Its a lot more fun then just memorizing the dates of Caesar Agustus and the day he puked in his tent ([something he actually did before a major battle... actual fact!]))

So returning to the fic, I do hope that it is still enjoyable. Please let me know your opinions or if you have any questions reguarding anything that I didn't explain earlier, prefferabily in reviews. Reviews are nice. Reviews are fun. And reviews are a much better alternative to meth (Not that I do meth, but I am addicted to reviews). Thank you so much for reading this!

Sincerely,

Tsuki-Chan

P. S. I do apologize for the spelling and some of the grammer mistakes. I am currently using Word Pad as my means of writing (which doesn't have a spellcheck program), and for some reason, the editing screen in will only show me spelling mistakes the first few paragraphs, but once I scroll down, it dosn't highlight any further spelling mistakes. Its so weird. Oh well. Spelling was never my strong suit anyway. Hope it wasn't too distracting.

P. P. S. Unfortunately, Sailor Aquarius was not able to provide her _glorious_ imput on the fic due to frustration at the viral-infested computer. Don't worry, she'll come back once she's cooled off. But it is refreshing to not have to deal with her remarks.

**Sailor Aquarius**: What were you saying about me?

**Tsuki-Chan**: Oops! Looks like she's back already! Gotta go! See ya in the next chappie! :sprints away at top speed:

**Sailor Aquarius**: Come back here you pathetic excuse for a writer! How dare you post an Author's Note without me...! :goes after Tsuki-Chan:


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